Williams finished the 2025 season on a high, having recorded their best year since the 2015 campaign. The Grove-based team finished fifth in the standings, and there was room for optimism for 2026. The team would have the best powertrain and a strong driver lineup with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon behind the wheel.
However, this term has gone wrong for Williams. Instead of kicking on, the team has gone backwards, having scored only 11 points at the halfway stage of the season. Williams hoped to be challenging for fifth place again, but they currently sit ninth, 55 points behind Racing Bulls in P5.
This season's struggles are weighing on Carlos Sainz's mind, with the Spaniard's contract up at the end of this year. The four-time race winner finished P18 in Hungary, two laps down from the winner, Lando Norris. The former Ferrari driver admitted he is unsure where his future lies after this season concludes.
Carlos Sainz unsure when he will decide his future with Williams
The Hungarian GP marked the halfway point of the season, which has seen Williams fail to deliver a competitive car. This has seen Carlos Sainz, who scored two podiums in 2025, question whether his future still lies with the Oxfordshire-based team. Speaking in Hungary, the 31-year-old admitted he wasn't sure when his future would be decided.
↗︎Sainz said: "I honestly don't know. I cannot give you a date. I always said I was going to wait until the summer to sit down with my team and think about this and discuss with them, with James and everyone, the future of the team and my future in it. I expect that, obviously, during the summer we will start to make a decision and start to see a bit more of the situation. Exact timings, I don't know."
These are nervy times for Williams. Sainz isn't the only driver whose contract is up at the conclusion of the season. Alex Albon's deal is set to expire at the end of the year too. The Thai driver has been with the team since 2022 and has helped push and develop the Williams car into a more competitive challenger.
However, he too has been angry over the team radio at the lack of pace the FW48 has shown this year, with team principal James Vowles apologising on numerous occasions. With the risk of both of their drivers walking away once their contracts expire, Williams have to hope their Baku upgrades deliver, as Aston Martin's did in Hungary.
Why are Williams struggling in 2026?
A new regulation cycle is difficult for all teams. However, after finishing the 2025 season on a high, the pressure was on to continue the upward trajectory. This hasn't been the case in 2026, with the problems being traced back to the beginning of the season.
Williams missed the first major test of the new breed of cars by not taking part in the Barcelona shakedown. The car wasn't ready and had failed crash tests, putting the Oxfordshire-based team on the back foot. The early signs weren't good for Williams during testing in Bahrain, and this led to the team being uncompetitive in the early rounds of the season.
| Position | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercedes | 379 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 307 |
| 3 | McLaren | 220 |
| 4 | Red Bull | 177 |
| 5 | Racing Bulls | 66 |
| 6 | Alpine | 61 |
| 7 | Haas | 21 |
| 8 | Audi | 12 |
| 9 | Williams | 11 |
| 10 | Aston Martin | 1 |
| 11 | Cadillac | 0 |
The FW48 was overweight and had to shed weight to get the challenger firing. The team had to focus on this more than performance development, meaning others could start edging away. The cars also struggles with balance issues and is generally difficult to drive. However, there is a glimmer of hope coming for Williams.
Vowles has stated that by the Azerbaijan GP, "you'll see quite a major change." Williams has to turn their season around; falling backwards will be a major disappointment. A season that promised so much is drifting away from them. Baku could be a major turning point, but will that be too late for the former constructor champions?
